SAN FRANCISCO - Aside from a handful of boneheaded penalties Jim Harbaugh will most certainly address this week, the San Francis

SAN FRANCISCO - Aside from a handful of boneheaded penalties Jim Harbaugh will most certainly address this week, the San Francis

SAN FRANCISCO - Aside from a handful of boneheaded penalties Jim Harbaugh will most certainly address this week, the San Francisco 49ers looked rather familiar in Week 3 of the preseason. Nico Hischier Jersey . That winning formula that carried San Francisco back to the Super Bowl last season for the first time in 18 years is on display again with the season opener two weeks away. Colin Kaepernick marched the offence with six straight completions during a series that ended with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Quinton Patton, and Aldon Smith and Justin Smith plowed through Minnesotas offensive line to make plays and hard-hitting tackles in the 49ers 34-14 exhibition victory over the Vikings on Sunday night. "Justin Smith had a burr in his saddle or something tonight," Harbaugh said. "He was Justin Smith." Sure, its only the preseason. And there were a lot of foolish penalties. Yet Kaepernick looks sharp, and the defence looks its usual stingy. Justin Smith ran over two would-be blockers to pound Toby Gerhart for a 4-yard loss midway through the first quarter, and sack man Aldon Smith recovered a fumble and put pressure on Christian Ponder. The new look in this one: flashy Lavelle Hawkins. Hawkins returned a kickoff 105 yards for a touchdown late in the second quarter, but he received two unsportsmanlike penalties in the process — one for pointing the ball at a Vikings player before reaching the end zone and another for removing his helmet in celebration. Harbaugh chewed him out on the sideline, and Hawkins could be seen saying, "My fault." Yet Hawkins received another unsportsmanlike flag for head-butting linebacker Desmond Bishop after flipping the ball toward safety Mistral Raymond following a 22-yard catch in the fourth quarter. "Those things are not OK to have, especially for the team, I dont care if its the preseason. I apologized to the team and I apologized to Coach Harbaugh," Hawkins said. "I kind of let my emotions get ahold of me. I didnt think, to be honest, Id be flagged on those. I learned from it." There were a couple of other things Harbaugh didnt like — Nick Moodys helmet-to-helmet hit on wideout Stephen Burton that resulted in an unnecessary roughness penalty in the third quarter, and a face mask by cornerback Perrish Cox on the same Minnesota scoring drive. After a week of long practices as the Vikings tried to get their stagnant offence on a roll, there were considerable strides. Ponder threw a pair of touchdown passes while playing three quarters. He connected on a 1-yard touchdown pass to Zach Line late in the first half for the quarterbacks first TD completion of the preseason, then threw an interception in Minnesotas final series before halftime. In the Vikings opening drive of the second half, Ponder hit Joe Webb with a 3-yard scoring pass. "That drive in the third quarter, we kind of got that experience of establishing some rhythm on offence," Ponder said. "We ended on a good note." Reigning NFL MVP Adrian Peterson didnt touch the ball in two snaps of action for Minnesota, making his preseason debut — and first appearance in the exhibition schedule since 2011 — as he begins a year in which he will try to become the first player with consecutive 2,000-yard rushing seasons. "It was definitely limited but I felt like it was kind of effective getting the play-action in," he said. "It is all about keeping your body in shape, doing the necessary things ... just making sure your body is ready to roll." Ponder went 17 of 23 for 116 yards, a step up after two unimpressive outings and a 28.3 passer rating in his first two exhibition games. This hardly looked like the Vikings group that handed the NFC champion Niners their first loss last fall, a 24-13 victory Sept. 23 in Minneapolis. On the third play of the game, Ponder fumbled and gave the 49ers the ball at the Vikings 11. Ahmad Brooks swiped the ball away and Aldon Smith recovered. San Francisco then went ahead on a 30-yard field goal by Phil Dawson, who added a 50-yarder before halftime. The 49ers saw a couple of new players for the first time in quarterback Seneca Wallace and wideout Jon Baldwin, not to mention a familiar face in backup running back Kendall Hunter. Returning from a torn Achilles tendon injury that ended his season in late November and required surgery, Hunter scampered 15 yards on his first carry since the injury. That first-quarter run gave San Francisco first down during the 49ers third series. Kaepernick began the game 1 for 7, then converted his next six pass attempts during that touchdown drive — including four in a row of 10 or more yards. Vernon Davis caught back-to-back receptions of 10 and 11 yards, and Patton and Marlon Moore each had two receptions in the series. Notes: Rookie fourth-round draft pick Patton (broken finger) played for the first time. ... 49ers QB Colt McCoy went 11 for 15 for 109 yards a day after restructuring his contract. Harbaugh all but announced McCoy as Kaepernicks backup, saying, "I feel real good that Colts the backup." ... Vikings CB Chris Cook injured his groin in the first half and didnt return. DT Kevin Williams got his right knee tangled up with OL Joe Looney early in the third quarter — a play the Vikings were considering sending to the league for review. ... 49ers RB LaMichael James injured an elbow. OLB Cam Johnson sustained a third-quarter shoulder injury and didnt return. ___ Blake Coleman Jersey . They actually finished with a better record in ‘07 than they did in ‘06 but only marginally, going from 61 victories to 66. Steve Santini Jersey .C. -- With a chance to start over and maybe drive in any series he wanted, Juan Pablo Montoya thought long and hard about what mattered most at this stage of his career. http://www.nhldevilshockeystore.com/ken-daneyko-jersey/ . Millsap will miss Wednesday nights game against the Chicago Bulls. The Hawks say Millsap also will be held out on Thursday at Boston.SPIELBERG, Austria -- Red Bull doubts coming home will be an advantage, as Formula One returns to Austria this week for the first time in 11 years. Team drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel finally ended Mercedes six-race winning streak by finishing 1-3 in the Canadian Grand Prix two weeks ago. But just when their F1 fortunes have taken an upturn, they dont believe their home track, the old A1 Ring redubbed the Red Bull Ring, will give them anything more than an emotional boost in the Austrian Grand Prix. Even then, teams that have been eating Red Bulls exhaust for the last four years are keen to pay them in kind on their home track. "It adds a bit of extra motivation," F1 leader Nico Rosberg of Mercedes admits. "It would be really special to win on the A1 Ring." Ricciardo and Vettel believe rival Mercedes will bounce back from its hiccup in Montreal, and go into the Austrian GP as deserved favourites. "The gap is still big," Ricciardo said on Thursday. "Weve got a bit of steam from the last race. Were all really excited - the home one for Red Bull - but (closing the gap) is still going to take a bit of time, its not going to happen overnight." Vettel thinks Mercedes is likely to have sorted out the technical mishaps from Montreal. "Everything else would surprise me," Vettel said, adding his teams goal was to get as close as possible to its dominant rival. "If a chance comes up like in Canada, we want to be right there to take it." Only engine troubles have stymied Mercedes this season. In Montreal, Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton had the same problem at about the same time, when their rear brakes overheated. While Hamilton went out, race leader Rosberg managed to limit the damage and lost just one place. "Its work in progress," Rosberg said of his team technicians trying to solve the problem. "We are confident its not happening again. We dont need to go extra conservative." Despite his second DNF of the season, Hamilton took positives out of tthe Canadian GP. Pavel Zacha Jersey. "Weve only gained from that experience," the 2008 world champion said. "The cars been fixed so that wont happen again. ... We have a lot races ahead of us so a couple of DNFs are not concerning me too much now. I have done my optimum but there is still room for improvement." The Austrian GP was last held in 2003, when Michael Schumacher triumphed on his way to the sixth of his seven world titles. Only four drivers have raced on this circuit -- Jenson Button, Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso and Filipe Massa. It will be the first time for Ricciardo and Vettel. Although the track has been modified only slightly, the 11-year-old race data wont be much help as the series has drastically changed with the introduction of the hybrid cars. "To be honest, I dont remember anything ... I have no memories," Alonso said. "(It) is a very short circuit, so there are only five or six corners around here where you can make the time, so I expect all the cars to be very close. One or two tenths (in time), you can make a lot of places, so you just need to make a perfect lap." Teams will rely heavily on their simulations, and need to gather as much data as possible during practice on Friday and Saturday morning, especially on surface characteristics. Those could change between the first and second practices as rain has been forecast for Friday afternoon. At 4.3 kilometres, the track is one of the shortest on the calendar. However, it has fast straights and features only nine turns, with just the first three to be taken in low gear, and it includes two DRS zones -- after the second and the ninth turn. In these zones, drivers are allowed to alter the angle of their cars rear wing flap to reduce drag while attempting to overtake. Until the Canadian GP, Mercedes was racing in a league of its own. Rosberg leads with 140 points, Hamilton has 118, and next-best was Ricciardo, on 79. Vettel was fifth with 60, but he and Ricciardo are hoping coming home will make a difference. Cheap NFL JerseysWholesale JerseysWholesale NFL JerseysJerseys From ChinaWholesale NFL JerseysCheap NFL JerseysCheap Jerseys ' ' '